Landmark
Wat Lokayasutharam, Ayutthaya
The great reclining Buddha of Ayutthaya, lying in the open on the west side of the island.
Landmark
Wat Lokayasutharam, Ayutthaya
Wat Lokayasutharam is largely gone - foundations, a few columns and a chedi base - but its reclining Buddha survives and is why people come. The figure is roughly forty-two metres long and eight high, built of brick and finished in white plaster, resting on a lotus-bud pillow.
It lies entirely in the open, with no hall around it; the temple that once enclosed it was destroyed in 1767 and never rebuilt. Locals drape it in saffron cloth, which is replaced periodically.
The site is on the quieter western side of the island, away from the main cluster, and is usually reached by bicycle or tuk-tuk. There is almost no shade.
Attraction Points
- Wat Chaiwatthanaram, Ayutthaya — The riverside temple of 1630, built to a Khmer plan and the most complete ruin in Ayutthaya.
- Wat Mahathat, Ayutthaya — The temple of the Buddha head held in the roots of a banyan tree - the single most photographed image in Ayutthaya.
- Wat Phra Si Sanphet, Ayutthaya — The royal temple of the Ayutthaya palace, and its three restored chedis.
- Wat Ratchaburana, Ayutthaya — A 1424 temple with a climbable prang and a crypt holding some of Thailand's oldest surviving murals.
- Ayutthaya Historical Park — The UNESCO World Heritage remains of Thailand's second capital, on an island between three rivers.
- Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon, Ayutthaya — A working monastery outside the old city, with a great chedi and a courtyard of saffron-robed Buddhas.
